Salaam
Many people boast about their heart being clean.
To me, this is a license to continue with wrong doing. You know, “so I may not cover, or pray, but God knows that my heart is clean”.
One can’t help but smile at such statements.
Firstly, if ones heart was REALLY clean, then they wouldn’t indulge in wrong doings. After all, ones pure, clean heart would be manifested through their actions.
Secondly, Allah (swt) states in the holy Qur’an that we should NOT ascribe purity to ourselves.
Thirdly, the deeper one goes into Islam, the more convinced they should become that they are undoubtedly the worst sinners on the face of Earth. Imam Abu Hanifah known to the Muslim world as the “Greatest Imam” used to become overcome with extreme remorse for the supposed sins that he had committed that he used to lose consciousness. Hadrat Abu Bakr (ra) used to wish that he was a blade of grass so that he wouldn’t have to go through the day of accountability. They didn’t walk around claiming that their hearts are pure. The Holy Prophet 
despite being sinless used to ask for forgiveness 70 times a day. Can any of us claim to have purer hearts then Imam Abu Hanifah, Hadrat Abu Bakr (ra) and our beloved Prophet (saw)?
And, it would be interested to ask those who are convinced that their heart is pure, where they obtained this knowledge of the unseen from…
Allah (swt) only looks at our hearts, which is why it makes sense to keep it clean and pure…
So…do YOU ever boast about how clean your heart is? And how CAN we keep our heart clean? What are the signs of a dirty/hard heart?
If it seems as if our heart has become hard and dirty what can we do to rectify the situation?
Is it possible for me to tell if someone else has a dirty or clean heart?
And are there any connections between the spiritual and physical heart?
Share your thoughts please..
Wasalaam
Nothing softens the heart more than dua or supplication...asking allah ta'ala to soften it and to make it merciful, we need to believe in our duas that inshallah they will be answered.
Another thing i would reccomend is to remember death...reflect on the process of death the life after death etc...it helps soften the heart..
The quran itself has the power to soften ones heart:
Quran Az-Zumar 39:23 : Allah has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, yet repeating (its teaching in various aspects): the skins of those who fear their Lord tremble threat; then their skins and hearts do soften to the remembrance of Allah.]
To do good deeds helps soften ones heart but we need to obviously focus on doing the fard things properly first as in salah...then the voluntary acts as it brings us closer to ALLAH.
I know the feeling. If I could ever be truly accountable for every effect of my every action I would gladly claim a pure heart.
[size=9]Whatever you do, know that I will always love you. Or else.[/size]
hard hearts make people arrogant and heartless and mean
Dovetailing on your initial sentiments MuslimSister - I noticed that especially those who are "pure of heart" are the ones who ritually takfeer all the other muslims.
Shias
Brewalis
Sufis
...notable scholars
Yusuf Estes is a good example of this. As a radical deviant Christian he ran around telling everybody they were all wrong and going to hell and he was right (until that mass suicide thing). This is why I don't find it terribly surprising that one of his first moves as a muslim is to tell of Hamza Yusuf and the Sufis.
I think the problem is they have this self righteous attitude - along with the potentially dangerous concept of "Bidah" and determine that everybody that doesn't get precisely the same things out of the Qur'an that they do must be practicing Bid'ah.
Like the Qur'an was a letter personally addressed to them :roll:
intresting.
but Dave if a person REALLY had a clean heart-they wudnt spend all their time looking down at others
Very good topic and especially like that comment above.
Because it true, because a heart that lives for islam, never think it done enough, is always looking at it own intentions and is on guard 24/7 a day. I remember soemone once saying that if someone say that they are a good muslims, they probably ain't. It kind of true as well, because i remember reading a quote a little while ago that said, talking too much about oneself is a way of concealing yourself.
I also agree with what Dave has said, i find it arrogant when people comment on someone esle. Because if you can't find nothing wrong with soemone action, you can always claim he has a bad heart as too be honest there no way of knowing who has a good heart or bad heart and we will only find out the truth on the day of judgement. So it a easy target.
But any topic about the heart and intentions is very deep. To deep for me personally.
"A true Muslim is thankful to Allah in prosperity, and resigned to His will in adversity."
[url=http//www.guidancemedia.com/videostream.php?id=Burda.mov]Quran[/url]
Everyone has a diseased heart except for a very few people.
The external and the internal are connected. If externally a person is transgressing divine law then it follows that his heart is also diseased. If a persons external is inline with divine law then even he is most likely to have a diseased heart.
Purity of the heart is not achieved by mere utterance of its claim, it is achieved if ever by very few.
Infact an alim once said: "When you became endowed with knowledge you will infact realise that you are an ignoramus."
nice post yuit
but I dont understand ^^^that bit :?:
Basically what i think it means, is that some people talk alot about themselves for the sole reason to cover up what they know are their flaws and fault in them, take the example of people calling me lazy, i used to talk so much about the things i used to do, i even convince myself that i wasn't lazy, but deep down i alway knew that i am lazy at times.
"A true Muslim is thankful to Allah in prosperity, and resigned to His will in adversity."
[url=http//www.guidancemedia.com/videostream.php?id=Burda.mov]Quran[/url]
You're aware she will read that right?
Salaam
The sign of the one with a hard and dirty heart is that he becomes insensitive to the sufferings of other Muslims….
He finds it hard to repent and lacks guilt and remorse regarding his wrong doings.
Worship for him becomes a burden and he lacks noor (light) in his heart and face…and becomes extremely selfish and only thinks about himself.
The dua’s of such an individual are not answered…
Also, eating, drinking, sleeping, talking, laughing etc etc all harden the heart.
And on the day of judgement the one with the hardest heart with be the furthest away from Allah (swt).
One can clean/soften their heart via Tobah, dhikr, like Naj said, reading the Qur’an, by ridding the heart of all negative characteristics such as pride, badgamani (suspicions), envy, hate etc etc
Wasalaam
whats Takfeer?
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
[size=9]I NEVER WORE IT BECAUSE OF THE TALIBAN, MOTHER. I LIKE THE [b]MODESTY[/b] AND [b]PROTECTION[/b] IT AFFORDS ME FROM THE EYES OF MEN.[/size] [url=http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/Dust.html]Dust, X-Men[/url]